Southeast Missourian player of the week: Notre Dame's Jack Litzelfelner

Notre Dame golfer Jack Litzelfelner capped a spectacular freshman season by claiming the biggest title in high school golf: State champion.

The 5-foot-3, 125-pound Litzelfelner, affectionately referred to by teammates as "The little man," fired identical rounds of 2-over-par 72 at Sedalia Country Club in Sedalia, Mo., to win the two-day Class 3 tournament by one stroke.

"He's done it all season long," Notre Dame coach Jerry Grim said about Litzelfelner. "He's been medalist in more than half the meets and everything we've been in. He thrives on the pressure, and he held up today."

Litzelfelner's showing also helped the Bulldogs to a second-place team finish -- their highest ever.

Litzelfelner made up a four-shot deficit to first-round leader Ethan Luecke of Warrenton, Mo., over the final eight holes.

A birdie on the par-3 15th hole moved Litzelfelner into a three-way tie for the lead -- MICDS freshman Andrew Brackbill Lilly also was in the mix -- and he took the lead with a par on the par-3 17th. He clinched the title with a tap-in for par on the 18th.

"I had a 15-footer for birdie to win by two shots, and I just lagged it up there to about 8 inches," Litzelfelner said about the par-5 final hole. "I kind of thought someone [in another group] would maybe come in the lower 70s, but I had a feeling that it was going to be close when I came in with 72."

Litzelfelner, who had made a name for himself throughout Southeast Missouri during the regular season with wins at the Jackson Invitational and co-medalist at the Poplar Bluff Invitational, had indeed conquered the statewide 89-player field.